Chapter 5

Kat woke up early the following morning. She wanted to know if Bianca and Darlene's words had had any kind of effect on her father. Of course, when her father told them to get upstairs, they had eavesdropped at the top of the stairs, safely out of view. By the end of their conversation, she felt sorry for Miss Darlene. She was in her bathroom, fixing her hair, when her father finally came to talk to her.

"We need to talk," He said.

"What? Should I start packing?" she asked sarcastically. She was hurt and annoyed that she couldn't hide it.

"Kat, your punishment has been changed. Now, you get to be responsible for your sister. You have to drive your sister to school and take care of her emotional dilemmas," Walter said.

"What are you saying?" Kat asked, too afraid that she was mistaken.

"I'm sorry, Kat. I should have trusted you. You've never needed my permission for anything before. Why would that change?" Walter explained.

"Thanks, Dad." Kat hugged him, her joy overflowing.

"Now, wait. Don't think that you have free reign. You have some rules to follow. I'm not about to let you to be hanging around with man-boy by yourself. You still need to earn my trust, so until you do, you will have to double date with your sister."

"Dad!" Kat screeched.

"Kat, don't push me. I'm trying to do my best here."

"Ok, I guess I can compromise. By the way, Dad, I was thinking about going to Harvard instead of Brown." Kat said, trying to feign complete innocence, but Walter caught on.

"I'm sure your mom would approve of any school you choose."

"What happened?" A sleepy Bianca asked, standing behind her father in the open doorway.

"I took your advice and decided to let your sister stay here with us," Walter answered.

"Really?" Bianca stampeded forward and hugged Kat, saying enthusiastically, "Now we can fight again."

"There goes that nice moment" Kat mocked.

"Time for breakfast. I made pancakes," Walter managed to say over Bianca's hysterics

"Wow! Maybe you should have sex with Patrick more often," Bianca stupidly commented.

"Bianca!" both Kat and Walter yelled at her.

"Just kidding, Dad," Bianca explained, preventing Walter from no doubt having a coronary.

In the car, Bianca realised she had a trouble lurking on the horizon. She had accepted Blank's proposition, thinking her sister was leaving. Now, that situation has changed. If she didn't tell Kat, she would probably end up dead, but Kat was in such a good mood. Bianca didn't want to be responsible for ruining her moment. Who was she kidding? She was just too chicken to face her sister.

Kat walked into school with a big smile plastered on her face. That was until she realized a group of girls was staring at her. Then, her angry glare snapped back into place.

She focused on them before saying, "Did you lose something?" The girls quickly turned their attention elsewhere.

When Kat saw Patrick at the end of the hallway, she had to use every ounce of her control to not run full speed towards him. When he saw her with that grin spreading back across her face, she didn't have to say anything. Patrick knew that her returned smile could only mean one thing.

"You're not leaving," he said, sounding a little too excited for what his reputation allowed.

For her answer, she hugged him, tightly breathing him in. He was so happy that he even lifted Kat into the air. They remained locked in their embrace until they heard the bell ring. Kat took Patrick by the arm as they walked side by side to math.

"We have another problem though," Kat announced, looking Patrick in the eye.

"I knew it was too good to be true. What is it now?" Patrick was beginning to get fed up with Walter and his antics.

"We have to find a boyfriend for Bianca."

"What?" He hadn't seen that one coming.

"I know. Believe me. Never in my entire life did I expect I would be affected by the state of my sister's love life."

"It can't be that hard, right?" Patrick asked, trying to sound optimistic.

"I hope not," Kat answered, not understanding how she got in this situation.

As class began, Kat took the seat next to Patrick for the first time. That day she had trouble concentrating on everything but Patrick. For the first time, she noticed what Patrick did during math. It marvelled her that no one noticed besides her. Patrick took out his own book, copied down some equations, and began working. Kat had never seen anything so complicated, but she was more amused that when he grew bored, he just plain fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Bianca was searching for Cameron. She needed some of his advice, but since yesterday, she hadn't succeeded in finding him. She was beginning to think that maybe he was avoiding her. Finally, she found Dawn. At least, his girlfriend should know where he was.

"Hi, Bianca. Where did you go during lunch yesterday? Cameron and I were looking for you?" Dawn asked in her overly bubbly way.

"I went with Blank."

"Blank?" Dawn asked surprised. Talking with Blank should've been treason after what happened with the election.

"Yeah, he asked me to be in charge of the prom, and I said yes," Bianca admitted, trying to ne nonchalant about it.

"That's great, Bianca! You would get to organize every dance and party. Can I be a part of your team? I think it might be a good way of getting back our popularity." Dawn was beyond ecstatic at the thought of her returning popularity.

"I thought so too, but Kat isn't moving back to Ohio. Now, I have to tell her that I'm fraternizing with the enemy." She said remembering her secret love for red hair and British accents. Ah, the lovely Ron Weasley.

"OH." Of course, Dawn didn't get the Harry Potter reference, but Bianca wasn't about to reveal her secret geek.

Thankfully, Cameron arrived, and Bianca's eyes brightened up.

"Hi, girls," the lanky boy called.

"Hi, sweetie." Dawn grabbed Cameron's face as they started making out for the thousandth time.

Bianca turned around, desperate to leave, but found Blank instead.

"So are you busy on Saturday?" He asked, his British accent sending shivers running down her spine.

"Busy? Hmm, I'll have to check my agenda." Bianca said with a smile, trying to be coy. She was starting to notice that Blank was actually handsome.

"Oh!" Blank looked momentarily disappointed. "As it is, I have an extra invitation for the opening of a new club, and I thought it...," Blank seemed to be choosing his words carefully before he continued. "...would be a good idea to check out ideas for the prom."

"Oh sure! We need to...discuss the prom, don't we?" Bianca was a little disappointed but tried not to show it.

Bianca turned to leave, hoping not to make a bigger fool of herself, but Blank grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Bianca, you look very pretty today," He said softly.

"Thanks." Bianca suddenly had an idea. Maybe Blank could help with the Kat situation. "Blank, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. What's up?" His smile seemed to brighten, but Bianca wasn't sure if it was just her.

"Look, I accepted your prom offer because Kat was supposed to be leaving for Ohio, but now she's...," Bianca started to explain the situation.

"She's not leaving and you're afraid to tell her?" Blank finished her thought for her.

"Exactly. I know it's stupid, but I really want to do this. At the same time, I like the way things are between my sister and I," Bianca confessed earnestly.

"In my experience, people who truly love you will never make you choose. It would no doubt be tough for Kat, but I think she is fair enough to let you have your happiness."

"Thanks, Blank. See you tomorrow?"

"I'm already waiting" He answered with his charming smile.

She tried to think about Kat, trying to force herself to feel guilty for going out with Blank, but she was far too happy. Then, she realised that it was actually Kat's fault to some extent. After all, it was Kat who spoke her mind too freely. She could deal with her sister's wrath later.

Meanwhile, Cameron was having troubles of his own. He was desperately trying to think about the best way to unmask Blank and Tabitha, but unfortunately, all he could think of was Bianca and how pretty she looked today. He didn't want to care anymore. Dawn had told him about Bianca and Blank. His girlfriend was sure that Bianca would date Blank, and Dawn was pretty much a psychic in the relationship department.

After math class, Patrick and Kat were discussing who would be a good match for Bianca. Patrick pointed out boys, and Kat would evaluate them. So far, they had had no luck.

"No, he's in the show choir. God no, he is too stupid. Try again, he is too smart. No, he is too ugly. C'mon, Patrick, he has a girlfriend. No, Bianca would never date a member of the debate club. No, no, no."

"Kat Do you realize we are looking for someone who will take your sister out on a date, not marry her?" Patrick was tired of looking. "If you keep going this way, it will be easier to break up Cameron and Dawn than find a suitable date for your sister."

"Do you think he's still in love with her? He took her dating Joey pretty hard." Kat was intrigued with the idea of Cameron. At least she approved of him.

"He is such a masochist. What guy keeps going back for that much pain? The poor guy probably doesn't know what to do now that Bianca is free. Enough of Bianca and Cameron, do you want to go to the roof during lunch?"

"I would love to, but I have to take photos of Blank's speech." She said, rolling her eyes. "I'm might need a certain nerd bad boy to keep me company though." She was smiling.

"Oh, I might know of one." He whispered in her ear.

"Tell him I'll be waiting in the back," She replied, unable to stop looking at his gorgeous eyes.

Patrick kissed her quickly, and each one of them took their own path.

It was lunch time, but Cameron had missed his last class to prepare for Blank's speech. All was settled and ready. The courtyard was full of benches instead of tables. A stage had been set up, complete with a microphone and screen. Bianca and Dawn were sitting together in the first row while Patrick and Kat were standing at the back. On the stage, Principal Holland and Blank stood, waiting for everyone to sit down.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I have the honour to introduce your new Student Council president, William Blankenship," The school's principal announced, her voice reverberating through the speakers.

"Thanks, Principal Holland. Good afternoon and thank you for your votes. I was planning on doing a very long speech about the activities my team and I have planned for this year, but I thought of a better way to do it. Video, please."

Everyone clapped and waited eagerly. The video began playing, but instead of a corny video they all expected, Cameron appeared on the screen.

Cameron, clearly nervous, addressed the whole student body that was watching wit confused faces, "Hi, everyone. I'm sorry for interrupting, but there's something you need to watch first. I shot this video yesterday, and I want you all to judge for yourselves."

After the video with Blank and Tabitha fighting fished, Cameron appeared again.

"Now for the real video Kat Stratford had prepared for this election."

Kat felt so ashamed of herself. The video playing didn't show the real her. She turned and saw Patrick. He was either angry or disappointed. With Patrick, it was always hard to tell. When the video finished, Cameron's face flashed on screen.

"Thank you. Now, you can keep watching Blank's video, or..." Cameron's voice was soon drowned out as every single student in the school screamed.

"Kat! Kat! Kat!"

That is, every student except for Patrick. Patrick just looked furious. He whispered curtly in her ear, "I thought you were true to yourself, but I guess you are just like everyone else." He left, leaving Kat on the verge of tears.

Principal Holland grabbed the microphone and shouted, "Cameron, Tabitha, Blank, and Kat. In my office. NOW!"

Kat started walking as Cameron filed in next to her. His head seemed to be growing by the second, and Kat was left to wonder if he would even fit in Principal Holland's office. Kat and Tabitha sat down while Blank and Cameron were left to stand in the back.

"Can you explain what just happened, Kat?" Principal Holland asked, targeting her as the instigator.

"I have no idea. I'm as shocked as you are. It's clear though that this election was anything but fair." Kat's eyes flashed a murderous glance at Tabitha.

"Blank, can you explain this then?"

"It wasn't my fault. Tabitha changed the video without my knowledge. She didn't tell me until after it was shown," Blank quickly defended himself.

"That's so typical of you." Kat turned around and faced Blank "Of course, it wasn't you. You just sent her to spy on my campaign, but now that you got caught you're just going to deny everything. And you..." Kat stared at Tabitha. "...are a shame to our gender."

"You're an idiot if you actually thought you could win this election. No one cares about your stupid causes," Tabitha argued back.

"I thought I was the snob," Kat taunted, not so quietly under her breath.

Principal Holland, trying to stop the bickering, interrupted the feuding girls, "Kat, stop. Kill them later and not on school property. Cameron, care to explain your involvement in all this?"

Cameron started from the beginning when Kat had asked him for help. He described what he thought, but Principal Holland wasn't in the mood.

"James, I don't need your life story. I just need to know how you recorded the video implicating Tabitha and Blank."

"With my cell-phone" Cameron answered.

"Sorry, Principal Holland, Cameron is a nice boy, but he's too literal," Kat explained. "Cameron, we want to know how you found them, and why you started recording them?"

"Oh, that. I was walking down the hallway, and heard some voices..."

Cameron explained every single detail, even including how he had considered going to Patrick to for help but had decided against it. He justified that he wanted to do something on his own.

"Ok, it's clear that there was some cheating going on," Principal Holland said. "However, since I'm too tired to properly deal with it, I disqualify all Blank's votes, so since Kat received four votes, she is new class president."

"Principal Holland, that wouldn't be fair either. I think we should have new elections," Kat suggested, still feeling the sting from Patrick's words to her.

"Kat, you were completely honest. You won, for the most part, fair and square. Besides, there's no money in the budget to allow for new elections. You got your wish, so stop complaining. We have an announcement to make. You, two..." Her head turned towards Tabitha and Blank. "...are suspended."

Kat and Cameron followed Principal Holland out of the office. Once again, Kat felt like she was going to face the death penalty. She agreed with Patrick fully. That girl from the video wasn't her, and she was just as corrupt as Blank or Tabitha. She had entered the race for all the wrong reasons. The first video was the God honest truth. It hit her then what she needed to do.

Everyone in the yard was chatting when Principal Holland returned to the microphone. Silence quickly fell over the crowd.

"After these new events, I've decided to declare Kat Stratford your new Student Council president."

"Kat! Kat! Kat!" Everyone screamed.

She even heard Dawn saying, "She's my BFF's sister."

Principal Holland handed the microphone to Kat. The entire audience remained quiet something she hadn't expected to happen. Patrick didn't need to scream, "Shut up, and listen to her!" Everyone was listening with attention. She could get used to this, but it wasn't right.

"Thanks, to everyone. I have been waiting all my life to be able to make a change, but I don't deserve to be your president. No more than Blank does. We were both too busy trying to find ways to destroy each other that we forgot the whole point of being school president is to help the school and the students. I know you liked my second video, but let's be honest we all know it's not me. I was trying to destroy Blank as much as he wanted to destroy me, but there's someone here who was brave, generous and committed this whole time. That person is Cameron James. Since I have the right to withdraw and name my successor, I'm selecting Cameron James as the new president." Kat smiled proudly at the boy next to her.

"Save the naked mole rats!" Brad screamed.

"Thanks, Brad, and sorry about the surgery," Kat apologized quickly before continuing. "Please welcome your new president, Cameron James."

The school went nuts with clapping and screams. Cameron was surprised and ecstatic. He looked like a kid who just got the best Christmas present ever. As Kat left the stage, she saw Patrick watching from the balcony with a huge smile on his face, and she knew she was forgiven. Everyone was happy, except from Bianca. Bianca felt sorry for Blank.